How Yoga Nidra Works

Yoga Nidra is a deeply transformative practice that brings deep rest to both body and mind. In this guide, you'll learn how Yoga Nidra works and get supportive resources to start your own practice. Whether you're struggling with stress, sleep, or simply need a reset, this article will help you experience the true power of rest.

What is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra is a meditative practice that helps us to find deep rest. Yoga Nidra translates to "yogic sleep" it is a form of deep rest that has been practices for thousands of years, being referenced in the Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Yoga Nidra has a rich history and continues to be a popular meditative practice today.

So what is this yogic sleep?

Your mind is still awake and aware but at a different level of consciousness than when we are awake. It’s from this state that we begin to experience the deeper benefits of Yoga Nidra. These benefits include reshaping deeply held mental patterns, habits, and emotional responses.

This is where the personal transformation of Yoga Nidra can begin to take place!

In yoga, we recognize that each of us are deep and complex individuals who each have a unique constitution or make-up of who we are. In yoga therapy, we can look at ourselves through The Five Layers of the Human System. We have a physical body, but we also have our mind, our personality, our emotions, and even the breath we can look at and begin to understand ourselves better through this lens.

What yoga Nidra does is it goes into the deepest layers of the subconscious mind, where we are able to change even our deepest patterns in our mind, our habits and even our emotions too.

The Benefits of Yoga Nidra

What can yoga nidra help with?

Physical and Mental Health Benefits:

• Insomnia

• Chronic pain

• Help tap into your parasympathetic nervous system

• Anxiety

• Stress

• Emotional regulation

• Boosts mood

Energetic and Transformational Benefits:

• Deepens self-awareness through subtle body exploration

• Supports healing by promoting deep rest and integration

• Unlocks the subconscious (where patterns and samskaras reside)

• Rewires limiting beliefs through repeated sankalpa/intention practice

• Creates a sense of spiritual connection or wholeness

• Rebalances energy through conscious rotation of awareness

• Prepares the mind for meditation by clearing mental clutter

You can receive additional benefits by working with a sankalpa, or intention. If there’s a habit you want to change or a specific quality you’re trying to cultivate in your life, sankalpa is a powerful tool. If you’re working with a yoga therapist, they can help you shape a sankalpa that supports your personal growth. Over time, working with sankalpa can create profound shifts in the subconscious mind.

What is in a Yoga Nidra Practice?

There are a few different traditions or methods of Yoga Nidra so there may be some similarities or differences depending on who your facilitator is or what the practice is for.

You don’t need to master or understand each part — just being guided through the process is enough to receive the benefits of Yoga Nidra.

In the kind of Yoga Nidra I teach, it will have these different parts:

• Settling In

  • It is important to prepare for Yoga Nidra. Sometimes in this phase we will do a little breathwork or yoga postures to help settle the mind. Once that is complete, it is important to put yourself in a comfortable reclined position. If you need to sit in a chair or on the ground for this practice that is ok as long as you can be fully rested there.

  • To be fully comfortable you can grab any extra pillows or blankets you might need for the practice. More comfort ideas will be available in the next lesson.

• Sankalpa or Intention

  • This is where we set our intention for this practice. Some people have one that they develop over time and work with for months or years in a personal practice. Other times we use an intention just for one practice in the moment.

• Body rotation

  • This is where we feel from the inside out different parts of our body as they are named. If you can't seem to feel a certain part at times that's ok. With more repetition it will get easier.

• Visualization or sensory experience

  • This is the point in the practice where we are in a deeper state of meditation. You will be guided through perhaps different physical sensation or an image story relating to the Sankalpa.

  • The Dream-state of our mind uses images, sounds, and stories so this is another way we can access deeper layers of our being.

• Deep Rest and Integration

  • We have finally arrived at the deep rest stage! This is an internal experience of deep rest and quiet that can often be felt between wakefulness and sleep. There won't be a lot of instruction from your facilitator here because your senses have likely been turned inward. This period can last between 1 minute or even 20 minutes or more!

• Gradually coming back into consciousness

  • The final part involves gradually coming back into wakefulness. Your facilitator will gently lead you back with their voice. You will often begin to breathe a little deeper, move fingers and toes, open the eyes and look at an object can all assist you in coming back to your waking life.

Understanding the process of Yoga Nidra can help you know what to expect. In the next lesson we will talk more about exiting the practice especially if you need to stop before it's over.

When Meditation is Difficult...

Because we are working with the subconscious mind, it is possible for unpleasant thoughts or emotions to surface, even if you don't seem to notice thoughts like this come in your waking life.

This is because Yoga Nidra is working with the subconscious mind where we may not be aware of these themes or patterns.

This doesn't mean that the Yoga Nidra can't work for you. It just means there is something there that your body and mind are trying to digest, process, and let go of.

If this happens, it is important to have an exit strategy if your thoughts or emotions feel like too much.

Exit Strategies:

• You can have a supportive object, something beautiful to look at if you have to open your eyes in the middle of the practice. This can quickly help us to come back to something pleasant if the mind takes us to a dark place. Having a soft object to hold onto the whole time might be helpful if you need a little more grounding.

• Make sure your environment is supportive. Having a room where you usually feel calm and comfortable can help. Trying to do a Yoga Nidra in a public park, for example, is an unpredictable environment where it might not be possible to go into relaxation.

• You can also move your body, tucking the knees into the chest, rolling onto one side, tapping, doing a self-hug, or any other supportive movements to help you come back into the present moment.

• Express your feelings if you need to. If these feeling come up if we are working together don't hesitate to reach out to me and we can talk about how to adjust the practice to be better for you or you can also journal or talk to an understanding and supportive friend.

Extra Tips and Common Questions about Yoga Nidra

Here are some extra tips for other common problems you might face when trying to do Yoga Nidra.

What if I can't get comfortable?

Do what you need to get comfortable. Sometimes we need to do an asana practice before Yoga Nidra before we are settled enough to participate.

You can also use blankets, pillows, eye masks, bolsters, anything you need to be able to feel at ease when you go to practice.

Some more ideas to get comfortable:

• Place a pillow or 2 underneath your knees

• You can place your feet up on the side of a chair or bed in a modified legs up the wall pose

• Get a weighted blanket or multiple blankets to add more grounding to the practice

• Use an eye mask or weighted eye pillow to help relax your eyes and forehead

What if I have difficulty visualizing?

That's OK! There's no need to visualize, see pictures or images to be able to benefit from a yoga practice. What you can do is focus on sensations and how you are feeling through the practice and hearing the words presented.

Also having a supportive image or picture may be helpful. I've had clients use a picture of a forest, sunshine, mountains or anything else to help visualize, or even uses mantras instead. This points to more of a meditative practice than a Nidra, though, but it can still lead to deep rest and relaxation in the mind and body.

What if I have racing thoughts?

When you settle in to do a Yoga Nidra and are still have racing thoughts or you aren't feeling present during the practice and you have tried everything listed above, maybe your mind needs to let the thoughts out before you practice.

You could use the time to journal your thoughts and feelings. Writing can help it feel like it's not so much. You can also reach out to a non-judgmental friend to be a listening ear or schedule a time to talk to a yoga therapist who will listen to you with empathy.

What if I hate silence?

Silence can be uncomfortable sometimes. Music is a great way to help with this feel free to turn on some calming supportive music in the background as you work towards being more comfortable with silence.

Let's Start your Yoga Nidra Journey!

I hope this guide has been helpful for you in learning a bit more about what Yoga Nidra is, how it can help you, and how to get the most out of your Yoga Nidra practice. To continue the journey you are invited to download a free yoga nidra video I have created as a gift for you!